Quote for the Day

I just came across this quote and thought it was something that even the most confident among us could relate to. I don't know anyone who hasn't questioned at one time or another if they were good enough.

"Is it possible that you're just not good enough? That you (or your team ) just don't have enough talent to be the best in the world? Sure, its possible. In fact, if your chosen area is the cello, or speed skatinmg, then I might even say its probable. But in just about every relevant area I can think of, no, its not likely. You are good enough. The question is, will you take the shortcut you need to get really good at this?"

-Seth Godin, author of The Dip.

And totally unrelated to this quote - This holiday week has a whirlwind, at times fun and at times stressful. The first half of the week Michael and Jenny, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, and my 3 nephews came to visit from Northern California. The boys who are 8, 6 and 3 years old are all brilliant balls of neverending energy.

We spent Thanksgiving at my Mom and Jon's house in Southern, California and got home last night, totally and completely exhausted and ready for a stress free day today.

Washington, D.C.

This is a little late, but better late than never!

The weekend before last I had the good fortune of spending this weekend in my new favorite travel destination (and possibly future home), Washington, D.C. Paul was recently appointed to a position on the national YAF (Young Architects Forum) and had a leadership retreat in DC this weekend to meet all of his fellow committee members and get planning for the year ahead. He was able to get Friday off from work so we decided to make it a mini vacation.

What really struck me was how much I enjoyed Washington DC. I had been there before so the intensity with which I liked the city and everything about it took me by surprise., The rich history and beautiful old historic buildings made with red brick and stone, the energy of the people on the streets, the leaves putting on their red and yellow fall coats the never-ending supply of cultural activities and great little shops and markets and small, cozy bookstores. One great thing I discovered is that contrary to my old opinions I actually think that I would like to live in a walking city. I used to be petrified at the idea of living somewhere without a car. Cities where I had to rely on the metro or the subway or something out of my control gave me a lot of anxiety. Being mugged while I lived in Spain had a profound effect on the way I feel about my personal safety and need to control my environment. However, stepping out for a walk into the nation’s capitol wearing a scarf and jacket to fight off the chill made me feel strong and alive. I wonder if it was the five and a half weeks on the Camino that did it, but I seem to have radically different sentiments now about walking as a mode of transportation. There is something zen about the continual motion and the freedom, not restriction as I previously thought, that comes with being able to get anywhere I want to go without a car.

We were there for 3 days...to be continued with more details about the trip.

Retracing My Steps

Its amazing how someplace you lived during one stage of your life can change by the time you return to retrace your footsteps there. Or perhaps its just the lens we see it through that changes our perception of it.

The bridge over the Rio Urumea in San Sebastian that I crossed everyday to get to school

This summer before we started the Camino, I wanted to take Paul and show him around San Sebastian, Spain, the gorgeous northern coastal city that had been my home during my junior year of college. San Sabi, as the locals affectionately call it, boasts the most bar per square meter in the world and is the only city outside of Vegas that I have called home during my adult life.

Being there stirred up a lot of old memories. The sand and the waves, the bridges that connected my apartment with Parte Vieja where I would spend the nights with friends in the bars or disco and where I would catch the Benta Berri bus to go to school with all of the dirty Basque men who smelled a lot worse on Friday than they did on Monday.

As we walked through Parte Vieja, the sights and smells brought back memories of my younger days. It was strange to go back to such a familiar place, but without any of the familiar faces. All of us were temporary residents of San Sabi who passed through for a semester or 2 and returned back to our home is Vegas or Sweden or Moscow, ID. I started to reflect on how much my life had changed since those days. San Sabi seemed to have changed the same way I had. The basics were still the same. The same rio Urumea running through the town, the same Kursaal, the same beach filled with blue and white umbrellas. Buen Pastor, the ornate old church was right there in the center of town like a sentinel, unchanged since the days that Matt and I ditched Basque folkdance class and shared a bottle of wine on its steps. 33 Zabaleta, my old apartment, probably still houses International students.

Me in front of my old apartment building, ah memories!

Yet, some things had changed, evolved. New movie theaters and botiques and supermarkets had moved into town. The beaches were packed with travelers and students, but they were a new generation of students. It was familiar yet distant. It felt a little like returning home after being away at college for a year, familiar and comfortable, but a little distant from who I had become. Although, San Sebastian will always in some way feel like home, the San Sabi that I hold so dear exists now only in my photo album and somewhere in my memory. I guess the girl I was when I lived there also exists frozen in time in those memories too.

Let's Get Swapping

I found this website, Gimme Your Stuff. A Cultural Exchange, a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with the idea. Basically, you post a list of stuff that you would be willing to send to someone in another country and peruse posts from others all over the world doing the same until you connect with someone to swap with. One of my favorite things to do when I go to other countries is check out the grocery stores and see what different goodies I can find. Some of my favorite snack discoveries from the past few years: Cafe Britt's Guyabitas (chocolate covered guava jelly - yum!) and Lizano salsa from Costa Rica, and Cola Cao (Spain's hot chocolate) and Zazamoros (little raspberry shaped gummy candies) from Spain.

So here goes:
I'd really like to customize the package to whatever my swap partner would like but here are some ideas of what I've got for you:

• books
  
• magazines - fashion, architecture, design, travel, gossip, whatever you like.
  
• any fun Las Vegas stuff
  
• candy, snacks, coffees or teas
• paper or scrapbooking supplies
• fabric or yarn
• postcards or photos
• flip flops
  

Here's What I'd Be Thrilled to Receive:

• A unique journal
  
• candy or snacks from your part of the world
  
• stationery
• a CD of music with your favorite songs
• jewelery
• hot chocolate mix
  

Interested? Leave me a comment. I'd love to hear from you!

The Month in Pictures - Part 2

Pictures from October continued-

Girl's Book and Wine Club - take 2
I want it to be book club day every day! I love our meetings. This month's book was Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the true story of Chris McCandless, a young idealist who, at 22, gave away his savings to charity, cut ties with everyone in his life and set off in search of an authentic existence. His pursuit of an authentic life turned out to be a fatal one as he met his end in the Alaskan wilderness. This book provided a lot of good discussion although we all agreed that if Chris McCandless could see us now, a girls book club discussing his life over mimosas and mini crab cakes, he would probably be pretty pissed. Our next book selection - The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

Halloween and Birthday Weekend
Where did this weekend go?? I can't believe its Monday already. Paul and I had a little too much fun on Friday night that resulted in a Saturday full of sleeping. We went to dinner and a charity event for Abby's birthday and then met up with some other friends at Cherry nightclub for our friend Marianne's birthday. We are not generally big on the club scene, but this was a blast. We had our own section with a few tables and I mixed a lot of drinks and took a ridiculous amount of pictures.

After a day of napping and eating KFC to absorb the alcohol from the night before we were ready to suit up for Marissa and Jeff's costume party. I was pretty happy with how my costume turned out. Here's some pictures from the party:

The Month in Pictures - Part 1

October is drawing to a close and I haven't been able to post as much as I'd like, but wanted to share some pictures from the main events in October.

Anniversary Dinner and Spamalot! at the Wynn
The first weekend in October Paul and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. I was looking at our wedding pictures the other day and it's hard to believe that a year has already flown by since our wedding on the lake.



Dinner at the SW Steakhouse was delicious and Spamalot kept us laughing. A word to the wise though, when in a steakhouse, you should probably get a steak. I had some so-so snapper, but Paul's ribeye was fantastic (and enough to share with me!) The atmosphere was nice too. One wall of the restaurant opens up to the outdoor pool and waterwall. It was a perfect night to let the outdoors in.

Its a little hard to see up close in the photo here but I've got my anniversary present from Paul dangling from my ears. He is so good at finding clever and thoughtful presents! I had saved a bunch of pink shells we'd picked up on the beach on our honeymoon in Costa Rica with the idea that I 'd someday make them into earrings. Well, they were too delicate and I had given up, but Paul took them to the jeweler who made our wedding rings and had them made into beautiful earrings for me for our anniversary.

Last Comic Standing Tour
I generally don't like stand-up too much, but my friend Marissa got me hooked on the Last Comic Standing show a few years ago and I've kept watching ever since. I think I like that the contestants are getting a shot at their dreams. This year my favorite was female commedienne
Amy Schumer (the tiny figure in the picture on the left). I thought she was original and hilarious in almost every case, but I was kind of disappointed in her set on tour. It was a lot of the same material she had already used on the show.


Lai's Visit
Less than three weeks after relocating to Macau, Lai missed us so much that she had to hop another 15 hour plane ride back to Vegas to visit. Actually, she is in the process of becoming a US citizen and this is the first of several visits she'll have to make over the next year as a continuing part of the naturalization process. It almost seemed like she just went on a quick vacation! It was really good to see her, even if it was just for a few days. She's almost convinced Abby and Paul and I to move across the ocean with her. I miss you Lai!

To be continued...

Ugly is the new Beautiful!

It's Halloween time!! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year. Ever since I can remember I have loved to dress up and, thanks to my multitalented Mom, who, even when she was working three jobs and taking care of my sister and I just after she and my Dad divorced, always made sure that we had the best costumes on the block. I've got to see if I can scan some of the old photos because they were always incredibly detailed and simply amazing to me. I was a butterfly, Canary Yellow (Rainbow Bright's side kick) a mermaid (I had to be pulled in a wagon to go trick or treating that year because of my fins) and countless other characters I was obsessed with during my childhood.

In my adult years, although I don't have my Mom's prowess for the sewing machine, I still feel like I've got to carry on her legacy of creativity and make a fabulous costume, even if I do put it together with hot glue and hand sewing. This year I have decided to dress as my TV heroine, "Ugly" Betty Suarez. Today I am off for Nevada Day so I am going to finish off the costumes for Paul and I for Marissa and Jeff's party tomorrow night. I'm going as Betty wearing her lovely Guadalajara! poncho. Here's some pictures of what I had finished as of last night:

Here's my recreation of Betty's fabulously tacky "B" necklace. I made the B out of some FIMO clay that you bake in the oven. I'm not sure why I never discovered the stuff before, but I want to make everything out of clay now. Here's a fun fact for history buffs about the real necklace Betty wears in the show: it is a replica of one that Anne Boleyn wore.

And here is the beginning of my Guadalajara logo for the poncho. I thought the sequins were a nice touch to add to the tackiness. I attached them to some felt with tacky glue and I am sewing them down too.

So now I am off the Joann's to find some last minute crafty stuff to finish off the costume today. If I could only come up with a good way to make some faux braces...Ugly- here I come!